In an AOL statement yesterday, Middelhoff, who is chairman and chief executive of the German media company, said it is inappropriate to continue on AOL's Board as a result of the merger with Bertelsmann competitor Time Warner Inc.

The move does not come as a surprise. When AOL and Time Warner announced their merger two weeks ago, Middelhoff told local media that he would likely step down as a result. But Bertelsmann also issued a statement after the merger was announced noting that Middelhoff voted in favor of the Time Warner merger while on the board there.

AOL and Bertelsmann have a 50:50 joint venture in Europe, AOL Europe. It has 3 million members in nine countries, and includes the brands AOL and CompuServe, as well as the recently launched Netscape Online service in the U.K.

Bertelsmann and AOL also have a 50:50 joint venture in Australia.

Bertelsmann at one time had a roughly 5 percent share in AOL, but has reduced that more recently to less than 1 percent, Bertelsmann spokesman Marcus Payer said in a telephone interview in early January.

Bertelsmann has also continued to pursue its own online strategies in Europe, such as launching BOL, (Books Online International), a series of online bookselling sites across Europe. [See "Bertelsmann to Open Online Bookstore," Jan. 25, 1999.]Bertelsmann, based in Gütersloh, Germany, can be reached at +49-5241-80-0 or on the Web at http://www.bertelsmann.de/.

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